Abstract:

Introduction:
Manchester Medical School is the largest in the UK: more than 350 students study medicine in the northwest of England during their final year. Students are placed in a variety of hospital and community placements, covering a large geographical area. Each student is provided with a University iPad. These are used by students to engage with online learning materials and for them to keep reflective portfolios of their experiential learning.
In 2019, a new Population Health module was introduced to the final year of the programme, to be delivered within a 4 week clinical attachment. A new e-learning programme was developed to deliver core curriculum content, consolidating student learning based on that they obtained in their clinical environments. Whilst our University had extensive experience of developing online e-learning materials, this was our first use of webinar technology to reach our students across their dispersed clinical placements.

Methodology:
371 students participated in the population health module. A suite of e-learning materials was developed for the medical school online learning portal, which introduced core content relating to population health. Students attended two webinars about population health, which could be accessed using the Zoom App on either their University iPad, university computers or personal devices. Webinars were delivered by clinician experts in population health to four cohorts of between 80 and 98 students. Webinars used a range of media to deliver teaching, including a Powerpoint presentation, film clips, and access to online public health databases. Interactivity was fostered through use of live audience participation using polls and messaging, submitted by learners using the Zoom app. Students were asked to submit reflections on their clinical attachments, which were critiqued during the second webinar, with formative feedback provided. Students completed a series of reflections on population health, summatively assessed by clinician supervisors on their clinical attachment, for satisfactory completion of the module. Feedback about the webinars was collected via a voluntary online form in the student portfolio at the end of the module.

Results:
42 students provided feedback on the webinars. They reported that they enjoyed live audience participation and 66% agreed or strongly agreed that they had learnt more about population health via the webinar. 76% agreed that the webinar was a useful format for delivery of content. Clinicians hosting the webinars found the technology easy to use, although at least two tutors were required for each event, so that live audience participation could be handled as the webinar progressed.

Conclusion:
Webinars as part of an e-learning programme helps connect with and teach learners distributed across a large geographical area, eliminating the need for travel time and expense to a central location. Webinars handled even complex discussion topics to a large audience, with appropriate means for interaction made available. Based on our experience of developing this programme and learner feedback, blending of online learning methods, webinars, experiential learning and consolidation through reflective practice, are key elements for an effective e-learning programme for large groups of geographically distributed learners.

Keywords:

Webinar, audience participation, dispersed student, medicine, population health.